Microsoft Addresses Surface Pro Shortages, Says Demand Is 'High'

Despite lukewarm reviews for the Surface Pro, Microsoft said "demand is high" and the company is working to fix shortages of the new tablet.

In a post Wednesday on the company's Surface Blog, Microsoft addressed the issue of low supply. "We know some retail and online locations have been low or out of stock of Surface Pro and we're working to address this," the company wrote.

"In the U.S., we are shipping additional units of the 64-GB SKU to Best Buy, Staples and Microsoft Store now. We are shipping 128-GB SKU later this week to retailers, with some units available by the end of the week. Our priority (and that of our retail partners) is to fulfill orders from customers who made a reservation first. Canada is following a similar timeline but may take an extra few days to start arriving," the blog post stated.

Microsoft released the Surface Pro tablet, which runs Windows 8 Professional, on Saturday to tepid feedback from reviewers. The Surface Pro, which is based on an Intel Core i5 processor instead of Nvidia's ARM-based Tegra 3 chip, was generally lauded for its hardware design, strong performance and ability to run Windows apps smoothly, but criticized for having short battery life and running hotter and louder than the original Surface.

Despite mediocre reviews and the winter storm Nemo, which forced Microsoft to cancel its launch event this weekend and which dropped up to three feet of snow and knocked out power in the New England area, the Surface Pro has seen strong sales, according to the software giant.

But Microsoft's channel has once again voiced frustration with the company's decision to leave the channel out of Surface's go-to-market strategy. Currently, Surface devices are only available through Microsoft (online or retail stores) and retail partners like Best Buy and Staples; Microsoft partners are still waiting for the vendor to give them the green light to carry Surface and Surface Pro tablets.